Eyes in the sky

The European Space Agency has chosen Indian Head, Saskatchewan as one of the three sites over which it is collecting space-borne radar images throughout the 2009 growing season. The other locations are in The Netherlands and Spain. Canada’s RADARSAT-2 satellite is being used and it can generate earth observation images of remarkably high definition even at night and through clouds. A number of Canadian scientists will support the ground research activities, including Dr. Guy Lafond, a production system agronomist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Indian Head Research Farm. The research team is doing detailed monitoring of crop development on selected fields within a 25 kilometre radius of the farm. The satellite images are for many purposes, but part of the project is to investigate the merits of using the data for classifying crop type and estimating crop yield. Many producers admit to fibbing a bit when Statistics Canada asks about seeded acreage and yields. You have to wonder how long it will be until the eyes in the sky can come up with better information than what producer surveys are providing. I’m Kevin Hursh.